Goddamned Greenwald revealed Reality Winner to the feds, now she is in detention

[Kolesar]

How it all came to light

On May 30, three weeks after Winner allegedly printed the classified document, The Intercept (Glenn Greenwald's current mode) contacted the U.S. government, likely through the NSA, to discuss an upcoming story based on the intelligence document it had obtained. The Intercept even shared a copy of the document with government officials, who confirmed that it was indeed classified at the top secret level, "indicating that its unauthorized disclosure could reasonably result in exceptionally grave damage to the national security," the affidavit said.

Two days later, the FBI was notified of the matter and initiated an investigation to determine the source of the leak.

Further analysis of the documents showed that they "appeared to be folded and/or creased, suggesting they had been printed and hand-carried out of a secure space," according to the affidavit.

Winner was one of just six individuals who had printed the intelligence document, according to an internal audit of the agency that housed the report. The audit also revealed that Winner was the only individual of the group that had email contact with the news outlet.

FBI agent Justin Garrick said in the affidavit filed with the court that he interviewed Winner at her home on Saturday and that she "admitted intentionally identifying and printing the classified intelligence reporting at issue" and sent it to a news outlet.

The news outlet was not identified in the charging documents, but a source with knowledge of the matter confirmed that the charges were connected to The Intercept’s Monday report titled: "Top-Secret NSA report details Russian hacking effort days before 2016 election."

http://abcnews.go.com/US/leaking-secret-nsa-report-russia-unfolded/story?id=47858751

[tazkcmo]

1. Wait, what?

Winner gives a classified document to a journalist who does what journalist's do and verifies/authenticates the document and it's the journalist's fault? I'm pretty sure she knew what she was doing was illegal and she has accepted responsibility for her own actions.

As for Greenwald, it's possible to hate him while still accepting that absent the release of a classified memo, Winner would be a free woman today.

[still_one]

4. Sorry, I disagree. You verify the content, not the actual document.

[tazkcmo]

7. Me too.

They didn't need Greenwald. Imagine, Greenwald gets the info and releases it to the public. There is an investigation on how this classified info was leaked. One of the basic things investigators would have checked is who had access. Eventually, they would have found that she was one of 6 people to have reproduced that document. Same result.

On the other hand, had she simply not printed the document and then released it, she would be free.

So yes, I disagree that the snitcher is to blame for the actions of the snitchee.

[still_one]

2. Greenwald is a grandstanding snake, so this should be no surprise.

[L. Coyote]

3. The Intercept is under surveillance as hostile, non-state intelligence leaker.

The minute the e-mail was sent the IC had the info, before GG even got the e-mail.

[aikoaiko]

5. I suspect this example will become a case study in journalism schools on...

...how one shouldn't screw over your informants by helping govt agencies to identify them.

I admire and thank Winner, but doing the right thing doesn't necessarily mean you get to avoid legal consequences. I hope she gets the minimum and a Democratic president commutes her sentence if she's still in prison.

[tazkcmo]

9. This

You expressed it better than I did. I don't like Greenwald but Winner knew the stakes and made the decision. I believe she would have been discovered w/o Greenwald's actions because the same investigation would have taken place once the info was published,. verified or not.

[jmg257]

6. Seems like an appropriate place for her.

[Tatiana]

8. On what planet does a journalist not simply verify the content of a document?

Ugh that Greenwald is such a conniving tool.

[Lee-Lee]

10. They would have figured out it was her regardless

If they had only verified content they still would have checked to see who had printed it. As it was a very limited group and she had no legitimate reason to be viewing it printing it they would have narrowed down to her anyway.